The use of storage boxes carried by the sidewalls of a pickup truck is well known. Boxes of this type generally have a single or two-part lid which opens about a hinged axis extending substantially the length of the storage box enabling the lid to pivot upwardly for access to the box interior. These boxes, however, can be configured in various manners to suit the user's purposes such as by having interior shelves and/or cabinet-like doors which open outwardly to provide access to the storage box interior.
While certain of these saddle box storage containers are fixably mounted to a forward portion of the pickup truck bed adjacent to the truck cab, it has been found that the access to and, therefore, the usage of the saddle box is far more convenient when the saddle box can be moved from a forward position adjacent to the truck cab to the rear most portion of the pickup truck bed adjacent to the tailgate. To this end the inventor of this invention has patented a mounting fixture for a truck bed, U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,673, which enables a slidably mounted storage container to be readily moved along the sidewalls of the pickup truck throughout the length of the bed. While the present invention is not intended to be limited to its use with the inventor's mounting fixture disclosed in his prior patent, the saddle box of the present invention may incorporate and be used with such a sliding structure. Accordingly, the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,673 is incorporated herein by reference.
Storage boxes of this type, commonly referred to as saddle boxes, are supported on the sidewalls of the pickup truck bed and extend downwardly into the bed space to provide a greater depth of storage within the open space defined by the pickup truck bed. Such boxes must be of a size sufficient to meet the storage demands of the user, while being strong enough to support heavy loads carried within while supported from the sidewalls of the pickup bed. In addition, protection of the items contained within the storage box requires that the storage box prevent water, snow, dirt and other environmental borne contaminants from entering the box interior.
Because such storage boxes are large, extending a length sufficient to overlie the pickup truck bed sidewalls from which the box is supported, and a maximum depth substantially equal to the depth of the pickup truck bed, shipping such storage boxes from the manufacture to wholesalers, distributors, retailers or an ultimate consumer has been very difficult and in many cases economically prohibitive. While shipments from a manufacturer to a distributor or wholesaler can be accomplished by the economies of scale by shipment of a large number of units to a single particular location, the costs of such shipments of large quantities of storage boxes can be further reduced by the present invention. For example, in international and trans continental shipment pre-sized containers are used, into which product is loaded for shipment. The present invention significantly increases the number of storage boxes which may be shipped in such containers and, thereby, decreases the per unit cost of shipment. In addition, shipments of small orders to a retail establishment or a single unit to a particular consumer are not economically feasible. Accordingly, direct sale from the manufacturer to a consumer, and the attendant cost savings to the consumer, have not heretofore been possible because such boxes do not meet the size requirements of the major parcel shipping services such as United Parcel Service. Saddle boxes are considered freight and consequently must be shipped by motor freight at a significant additional cost in addition to the price of the saddle box storage container.
The present invention is intended to overcome the problems associated with the cost of shipping such storage containers from the manufacturer, and permits saddle box storage containers to be shipped by the major parcel shipping services.